Tomography

The combination of x-ray microscopy and tomography offers the reconstruction of 3-dimensional data-sets of the inner life - without destroying the sample with mechanical cuts.

The word tomography is composed of the greek words tomé (to section) and gráphein (to write, to draw) and means to record an image of a section through an object. Tomography is a mathematical technique that reconstructs a property of the object, e. g., its x-ray attenuation coefficient, from a series of integrals of this property, e. g., a series of transmission images through the object.

3D tomographic reconstruction of a bone from a series of projections.

The combination of x-ray microscopy with tomography is very fruitful, and tomographic imaging techniques are an important part of our research. Examples of tomographic microscopy are:

  • Tomographic full-field microscopy of a fragment of a microprocessor.
  • Fluorescence scanning microtomography: distribution of elements inside a Mahogany root.
  • Tomographic absorption spectroscopy: chemical state of a catalyst inside a reactor capillary.
  • Tomographic small-angle scattering: local nanostructure of a polyethylene rod.